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Nightengale: Examining baseball's April aberrations

ST. LOUIS - Funny what a single day can do to change perception, even establishing a sharp line of demarcation between reality and fiction.It may have been only one game in late April, but with the Milwaukee

ST. LOUIS - Funny what a single day can do to change perception, even establishing a sharp line of demarcation between reality and fiction.

It may have been only one game in late April, but with the Milwaukee Brewers playing as if they would never lose another game, and the Cardinals enduring their worst home run drought in 17 years, a panicked fan base has calmed considerably.

The Cardinals not only won, 7-0, over the Pittsburgh Pirates, but got a pair of home runs from Jhonny Peralta, whose six longballs are most before May by a shortstop in franchise history.

"It's no time to panic,'' says winning pitcher Adam Wainwright, "but you have to walk a fine line between urgency and panic. We played with urgency today.''

Perhaps just in time, with the Brewers and their 4 ½-game lead coming to St. Louis for a three-game series beginning today, a perfect chance to separate fantasy from reality throughout the game.

So are the Cardinals still the class of the National League Central, if not the entire National League?

Fact.

Forget their 14-12 record; the road to the NL pennant still runs on I-70 through the heart of St. Louis.

"If people bought into some of the talk around here,'' manager Mike Matheny said, "you'd think they we're 0-40 right now. …We are finding a way to win, maybe not as many as we like, but we can't sit here and fall into a trap and think we're worse than we actually are.''

And with the first month of the season complete, reality checks are in order from coast to coast:

Did we overrate the Nationals - and underrate the Braves?

Fact.

Remember when everyone was feeling sorry for the Braves when they lost Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy with season-ending surgeries?

Well, now there are 29 other GMs gritting their teeth watching the Braves steal the spring with their late acquisitions of Ervin Santana and Aaron Harang.

The Braves' rotation is yielding an ungodly 1.57 ERA. The lowest ERA by a starting rotation in the last 100 years belongs to the 1917 Chicago White Sox: 2.06, according to baseball statistician Bill Chuck.

Oh, and did we mention that Justin Upton is tearing up the National League - hitting .397 with seven homers in his last 16 games - while Evan Gattis (.303, five homers) is proving not to far more than a one-year fairy tale.

The Nationals, baseball's most underachieving team a year ago, are playing better, 14-12, but they're four games behind the Braves, and hardly living up to the hype of being a World Series contender.

Are the D'backs the worst team in baseball?

Fiction.

They're just playing like the worst team in baseball with a horrendous 8-20 record.

The Houston Astros are certainly worse. So are the Chicago Cubs. Uh, unfortunately, that's about it.

They have the worst ERA at 5.29. They have only six quality starts. And they can't blame it on bad luck, losing just one game by one run, while getting outscored 162-103.

Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers certainly doesn't want to fire manager Kirk Gibson, and shares the blame in their struggles. Yet, if the players don't soon start responding, Towers will have no choice but to make a managerial change, likely promoting Phil Nevin, their Class AAA Reno manager.

Are Charlie Blackmon, Chris Colabello and Martin Perez for real?

Truth.

They are three of the best stories in baseball, with Colabello becoming the best legend in Minnesota since Paul Bunyan.

Colabello, 30, who spent seven years playing for the unaffiliated Worcester Tornadoes, just broke Kirby Puckett's franchise record with 27 RBI in April.

The Rockies were blasted to the snow-capped mountains when they traded popular center fielder Dexter Fowler to the Houston Astros, saving nearly $7 million. They believed Blackmon might make a nice left-handed platoon outfielder, well, if he could beat out Corey Dickerson. Look who's laughing now? Blackmon is hitting .402 with five homers and 17 RBI this month. And Jordan Lyles, the pitcher they got in return for Fowler, is 3-0 with a 2.93 ERA.

Perez, who stepped into the Rangers' depleted rotation, is pitching better than anyone in the American League these days, going 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA. He has pitched back-to-back shutouts, and hasn't given up a run in his last three starts.

The trio may soon be together 2 ½ months from now in Minneapolis at the All-Star Game.

Can the Giants upstage the $250 million Dodgers?

Truth

The Giants, fresh off a three-game sweep over the Cleveland Indians, are just the team to take advantage of the Dodgers' self-imposing ways.Yet, while the Giants' offense shows signs of being rejuvenated, with Brandon Belt and his seven homers leading the way, let's be honest here: The Giants will go only as far as their starting pitching. This means they can't simply rely on Madison Bumgarner and Tim Hudson and a bullpen that has yielded a 0.43 ERA at home this year.

They need help from Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong, all with an ERA of at least 5.40 ERA.

Are the Brewers legit?

Fact.

After losing 88 games last season, Milwaukee has proven this month it is a legitimate playoff-caliber team.

The Brewers have the second-best ERA, the second-highest batting average, and only three NL teams have made fewer errors.

The Brewers have jumped out to such a hot start, 18-7, that the defending wild-card champion Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds are now gasping for breath.

The Pirates, 10-16, already are 8 ½ games out of first place as they hope to avid a 20th losing season in 21 years, while the Reds (11-14) are 7 ½ games out.

"There's no question they've gotten off to a great start,'' Pirates GM Neal Huntington said, "and are hitting on all cylinders out of the gate.They're a good team. They are on a roll right now.

"We got to make sure we stay focused getting ourselves right. We can't get too caught up with what others are doing. We've got to make sure we're doing everything we can do to get on track.''

It may still be in April, but the train has left, and the Pirates can't get out of the station.

GALLERY: Baseball's walkoff wins

August 1: Minnesota Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk off single in the ninth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Target Field. Jesse Johnson, USA TODAY Sports

July 23: Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk off home run during the ninth inning as the Astros defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-4 at Minute Maid Park. Troy Taormina, Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

July 22: Ike Davis #17 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates a win after an official review in the tenth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at O.co Coliseum on July 22, 2015 in Oakland, California. Lachlan Cunningham, Getty Images

Colorado Rockies first baseman Ben Paulsen (10) celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk off single to wing the game during the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers at Coors Field. The Rockies won 8-7. Chris Humphreys, USA TODAY Sports

July 17: Angels center fielder Mike Trout celebrates with teammates after hitting the game-winning home run against the Red Sox during the ninth inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Richard Mackson, USA TODAY Sports

July 12: Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett smears shaving cream on Gregory Polanco after hitting Polanco's walk-off single in the tenth inning during the game against the Cardinals. Justin K. Aller, Getty Images

July 7: Mariners' Robinson Cano, upper right, is lifted by Nelson Cruz and Dustin Ackley after Cano drove in the game-winning run in the 11th inning to give Seattle a 7-6 win over the Detroit Tiger. Ted S. Warren, AP

July 6: Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez (left, center) is mobbed by right fielder Gregory Polanco (25), second baseman Neil Walker (18) and shortstop Jordy Mercer (10) after Alvarez hit a game winning RBI single against the San Diego Padres during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 2-1. Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sport

June 16: Texas Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos (61) is congratulated by teammates as he arrives home on his walk-off home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Rangers won 3-2. Jim Cowsert, USA TODAY Sports

June 14: Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro (13) is congratulated for hitting the game winning RBI single during the eleventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field. Chicago won 2-1 in eleven innings. Dennis Wierzbicki, USA TODAY Spor

June 4: Texas Rangers teammates swarm Shin-Soo Choo after his game winning single scoring Leonys Martin against the Chicago White Sox during the eleventh inning of a baseball game The Rangers won 2-1. Jim Cowsert, AP

May 23: Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (not pictured) throws water on second baseman Jace Peterson after a walk off RBI single against the Brewers in the eleventh inning. Brett Davis, USA TODAY Sports

May 12: Reds' Michael Lorenzen scores the winning run off of a walk-off double by catcher Devin Mesoraco (not pictured) in the bottom of the 9th inning against the Braves. Frank Victores, USA TODAY Sports

May 10: Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado gets a towel shower during post game interview with Sophia Minnaert after his game-winning hit against the Cubs in the 11th inning. Benny Sieu, USA TODAY Sports

April 13: Dodgers third baseman Alex Guerrero has his jersey torn off by teammates Yasiel Puig and Yasmani Grandal after hitting a game-winning single against the Mariners in the 10th inning. Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports